


Children of R'lyeh, Act I: Discovery

by Vosh



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - Fandom, Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Furry (Fandom), cyberpunk - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25224931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vosh/pseuds/Vosh
Kudos: 4





	1. Prologue

[Shitbox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W0cf6YKk0o)

_**Prologue** _

**> User detected...**

**> Login Attempted...1 time(s)**

**> Login Successful**

**Welcome back to the grid, Oxye...**

“Yeah, yeah, grid login, net codes, technical do-dads and whatnot. Just let me in already. It's bad enough that I had to help miss Fuzzball with her rocket...hoverboard...thing...yeah, that. Can't believe she was going to try and have everything run manual with a backup propulsion system based around combustible gases...”

**> Emotion: Frustration detected in user's voice...**

**> Attempting to calm user down...**

**> Opening music player...**

“No...wait, no, no, no! I didn't...! You know what? Fuck it. Bring up a journal log entry while you're at it. Learned quite a bit today and I'd like to get it all down and uploaded to my knowledge base before I wipe my implants again. Not to mention that I uh...need room for music. Can't drown out pointless topics by zoning out alone, y'know?”

**> Reckless use of cybernetic implants detected...**

**> Attempting to--**

**> Sequence aborted**

“That's right, I'm in control here. Now, about that journal log...” would be the words of a certain Fen-Chi male who'd managed to link himself into the ever developing new world of the era post a rather significant event. Obviously he'd found something rather important if he was scrambling things onto and off of his complex computer station, something he'd built himself over the years through the collection and salvaging of thrown out cyberware. The sounds of dull-clawed, callus tipped digits tapping ferociously against a number of keyboards filled the room, the log already recording the Fen-Chi both visually and audibly, “Okay, so as I said, I learned quite a bit today. And not just about the already established city we know and only somewhat love, well at least that I only somewhat love because I think we could be way ahead in tech if we'd just put actual effort into shit and NOT try to reestablish a self-hindering system...right, my point. So like I was saying, big, meaningful discovery today. And I don't mean that my sister finally found a way to get a boyfriend. Okay, okay, the point that I want to get out is that I found out why everything is as it is here.” The Fen-Chi would go quiet for a moment as he adjusted his position in his large, padded seat and reached up to adjust and move the camera down to a more eye-to-eye level, his heterochromia noticeable more now that his good eye, the one that glowed a bright, deep, reflected a flash of light from a small, self fixing error pop-up from a monitor to his right.

He'd then lean back in the large seat, his arms folded over his chest with the arm that had a holo-projection arm guard tucked under the one with nothing but a striped arm warmer, his voice changing from a casual, relaxed tone to something a bit more serious, “This world, as we know, was never like this before. It was never supposed to be like this. I've done my research. I've gotten into databases holding information about this stuff. The most advanced robotics between then and the beginnings of this 'New World' have such a large leap between them that it can't have been a coincidence or miracle of science. It doesn't piece together. Not to mention that the last recorded knowledge-base before the PR eras, that's 'Post Resurgence' if I remember correctly, was around the year of 2042 and the previous one before that that incurred yet another large gap in time was 2021. Almost 21 years. Information, data, memories...that kind've stuff doesn't just stop for 21 years due to a coincidence. Do you see what I'm saying? Not you, me. But yeah. Think about that. Let that sink in. Something happened. I don't wanna say I know exactly what happened, but I have a feeling from the things that I found back on the fucked up ground terrain levels of the city could give me, us...everyone, a clue. A key to the past.”

The Fen-Chi would scurry off of his seat as he ran out of the room at the sound of a certain someone slamming the door behind them, only to have another someone seemingly growl as they too followed in afterwards. Before long, however, the Fen-Chi would return, a rather large bundle of what looked like posters, old and yet somehow preserved ones at that, in his scrawny hold. He'd drop them onto his seat and begin to open and display them to the camera recording his actions. Each one he'd show depicted images of great beasts, most of them decrepit and reminiscent of aquatic, hybrid or seemingly impossible creatures, “...Great. Old. Ones,” he'd say as he finally got to the last of the posters, “And this one. This is Cthulhu. Look, I know it seems like a long shot, but I think they, or at least this one, this squiddy dude, octoman, whatever you wanna call him, has to do with what happened. Just think about it some more. These posters aren't just replicas. They're actual, real pieces of paper that have been around for over a century, somehow. 'Paper' nowadays, or so they call it, only lasts about a decade before it erodes in a rather rapid fashion, hence why I'm doing this kind of stuff this way instead of writing a book with a marker or crayon or something. A-and not to mention, these things are hand drawn. Someone o-or even something had to have drawn these things. Had to have seen them. Yo, and look,” he'd say as he fumbled around with the poster depicting the Old One Cthulhu, turning the poster over to the other side, “...this isn't standard, common tongue. Honestly, the only thing I can really decipher out of this is 'A-l-e-x'. Guessing that's the name of someone who either wrote this out or was written about. I mean it all makes sense, at least to me. Something happened that involved the Great Old Ones, or even one of them, in that time between 2021 and 2042. Maybe...maybe it could help explain how Vosh and Ventus are he---”

“We're here because we want to be here, nerd. What're you goin' on about in here? Rambling about some theory again? I bet you went down into the old city again and found some crazy bullshit that you're using to try and piece together some kind of big mystery,” a rather tomboyish, yet feminine voice would comment as the figure of the Ngirrth'luin named Vosh appeared on the camera behind the Fen-Chi male, “Look, we need you to stop diving down there on your own. You're an information broker and knowledge courier slash jockey. We need you alive and your head in the right place because, well...you're literally majority of our income.” She'd then nudge his shoulder as she began to pick up the mess of posters, rolling them up as she did so.

Oxye would merely sigh as he looked at the poster of Cthulhu once again, feeling rather out of place with his newest journal log, “...y'know, you said you and your brother came from a strange place filled with strange beings, even more odd than some of the stuff we see around here. What was it called again?”

The girl would groan lightly as she finished stacking the posters against the nearby wall, one of her tendrils spawned out from her right shoulder splotch as it helped her reach up and begin to place said posters up on the rather high shelf she couldn't reach using her normal limbs, “...R'lyeh? What about it?” Her tone had lightened up a bit, wondering why her friend and essentially family member would ask about her old home.

The Fen-Chi merely shook his head, “R'lyeh...there has to be a link...” Before long, he'd roll his last poster up and help the Ngirrth'luin girl with the remaining posters, his enthusiasm gone for the rest of the evening.

**> Log saved, exiting**

**> Logging off...1 attempt(s)**

**> Log off successful**


	2. Beginning of the End?

[The Catalyst](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51iquRYKPbs)

_**Chapter Zero: Beginning of the End?** _

**> Begin playback of recorded history**

The fog was beginning to settle in the distance, but yet as one looked farther into the center of the city, it was apparent that what had begun 15 years ago was far from being over. The sounds of pained breaths filled the destroyed, water covered streets, followed shortly by bestial screams and the sounds of bodies seemingly being torn in half. A figure emerged from the ever-thick fog that coated the surface of the destroyed pavement. Was it human? Or something else? In the figure's hand was held a bat, them using it to lift themselves up from the ground as a cane of sorts. Their eyes. They were a sharp colored yellow-orange, reminiscent of a certain being's eyes. A smile was etched across their face in what looked like a painful manner, almost as if they had no other choice but to at this point.

The figure began to become more clear as the fog began to thin just a bit, revealing that what looked like a large crowd of gas-masked followers standing beside and behind him. A single phrase could be heard in unison as they lowly chanted, “Alex, Cthulhu, fthagn...” It was repeated endlessly, as if a hive mind had been formed, but clearly they had a reason for doing this. The figure that seemed to weakly rise from the cold, wet street now shot himself up into a semi-proper position, his back arched back a bit. A scream could be heard from the boy as he felt something begin to sprout once more from his back, more specifically his shoulder blades. Flightless, decrepit wings that were imaged after a certain Great One's erupted from him, tearing through the cotton button up shirt and red vest he was once so fond of, now ruined and stained with blood, torn in many places. His hat, a newsboy one in design, had many a hole littered throughout the object, a pair of rusted, bloodstained goggles resting atop. His jeans were ruined, holes littered all around the knees and his shoes, what used to be Converse, now useless, served beyond their original purpose, now only something that kept his footing stable.

The screaming stopped, the chanting following soon after. The city became quiet once more. The boy fell to a knee, holding himself up by the bat which he so tightly and passionately held in his right hand. A masked follower moved towards the boy, gripping at the back of his shirt and helping him to his feet, “You will serve your purpose, Alex. We've all come too far. You've come too far. You've lost everything as have we. Come, lead us into the heart of the non-believers and grant us sanctuary within the walls of R'lyeh!” The follower had clearly lost his mind, obsessed with an ancient, lost city known as R'lyeh, home of the Great Old Ones and home of Alexander's controller, Cthulhu.

At this point, Alexander wondered why it had come this far. What had he done the past 15 years to cause this? Was his sacrifice to the Great One more a mistake than a gain? He had nothing but a cult of fanatics. His girlfriend was lost to a sacrificial ceremony by his followers due to her actions of forewarning of his path to the few remaining cells of non-believing people. His best friend had turned against him and formed a 'Resistance', attempting to kill him and this cult of his which he never wanted. Was this really to be the day that he would allow his master to finally roam? Release R'lyeh? When he weakly turned to look at the large crowd of masked people, no...beings...all he saw was a crowd of psychopaths. He didn't want this, but obviously his meddling in the dark arts of the Necronomicon and obsession with what he believed was simply an imaginary deity of chaos had brought this upon New York, and soon the rest of the world.

* * *

“You know, this isn't going to end well. For any of us, Alex. Please, just stop this while you can. Hunter has already began to compile together his own group in order to stop you,” the voice of a sweet, soft mannered girl would echo through the small, damp room, “It isn't worth it. I understand in order for you to end it all would mean you having to die. And that I completely understand. I'll follow you into that endless journey to that city you say exists, that all of these...people...say exists, if you'll just agree to let it e--”

* * *

“No!” would be what Alexander would scream repeatedly as he stared into the visors of his followers, “I will not die in order to keep a bunch of idiots who didn't listen to me in the first place alive! My losses are their fault! They will feel what I've felt all this time! Ahahaha!” He'd finally snapped. The crowd looked back at the boy, almost inspired by his words and the glow from his eyes. Growls began to fill the streets once more.

“Ph'nglui mglw'nafh _Cthulhu_ R'lyeh wgah'nagl _fhtagn_ _! Awaken our lord!” The phrase translated to “In his house in R'lyeh, Cthulhu sleeps dreaming.” They all had a single intention to fully awaken their supposed god, and it was through Alexander, a harbinger cursed, or blessed in their eyes, by the mind of the Great Old One that they believed it could finally be achieved. And by Alexander's reaction and words, it was clear that he was little more than a soulless husk. His purpose was being fulfilled._

_The boy began to smash the ground below him repeatedly with his bat, chanting the line that his followers had screamed in unison endlessly. The ground below him began to crack, the shape of what looked like an octopus-head forming from them damage that he began to inhumanely afflict onto the pavement. His followers stepped to the sides. The cracks began to shoot from the head shape and follow along the seemingly endless, water filled streets of the decrepit New York. The atmosphere within the city began to feel damp and smelt of an excessive amount of brine, almost as if breathing salt water itself._

_Screams and fanatic laughter began to fill the streets as Alexander's followers began to feel something they never felt before. The cracks below their feet began to glow an eerie green and purple. Many began to rip their masked off, revealing that they had already been affected by the Great Old Ones in some way, shape or form, the most noticeable feature being that some had lost their lower jaw to corrosion and replaced by a mound of tendrils. Others who had not reached such a state or were not truly believers began to incinerate, their essence absorbed into the glowing cracks of what was beginning to be a summoning, but of who or what?_

_Meanwhile, atop a nearby high rise building, a small group lied in wait, continuing to watch what was unfolding, “So he's finally lost it, huh...hmph...”_

_“I say we take him out now. I don't care if it means we won't get a chance to take down whatever he's trying to bring into this world. Probably easy kills like hunting rabbits or something.”_

_“No, no...just wait. I want to see. It'll be good to draw this stuff out, y'know? Get a good amount of history in before we finally take down the big one. Can't just have stuff like this lost to history.”_

_“That is enough, all 3 of you! You will fire on my mark, and that mark will be directed at that piece of shit slamming his little bat on the ground like an angry ape,” would be the last words spoken by a rather strong voiced male. They were all dressed similar: black jacket, gray shirt, black jeans and boots. This was the last of Hunter's resistance, and Hunter had every intention to make this the last stand for humanity. If he couldn't do, then it really was the beginning of the end. All this time they'd been 'missing' had been spent collecting whatever they could to create weapons representative of 'rail guns', each a different style meant to target different areas of a target according to the density. And Hunter, of course, had every want to be in charge of the one that was meant for the heart, “...now!”_

_Alexander's slamming ceased as the ground shook below him excessively. Had he finally done it? Was his purpose fulfilled? He felt something off, however, and it wasn't coming from what he'd just accomplished. He turned to where he felt the disturbance from, trying to focus on the rooftop of a nearby high rise, his pupils narrowing as he realized what, “...now!” was the last word from someone who wasn't like him that he heard as he felt a ripping pain travel through his chest cavity, only catching a moment of a nearby follower having their decrepit head torn clear off of their shoulders and becoming nothing, and then...nothing._

_However the summoning did not end, and from the bloody, destroyed mess that was Alexander rose something that even those who managed to hit their primary target could not believe. Followers who remained began to scream in pain as they felt their existence and form begin to change in a rapid and painful way, looking more and more like familiars of what was spawning from the surface of the streets._

_“...he didn't...he couldn't have!” screamed an angry and distraught Hunter as he directed his small cell to line up their shots and prepare for what was to come. A portal to R'lyeh was formed, and the first thing that made its way through was none other than Alexander's master himself...Cthulhu. The head began to surface through, it taking up the entire surface of the street and pushing up into and through the two closest sky scrapers. The group unleashed everything they had, attempting to try and at least injure the Old One, but to no avail. The monstrosity merely groaned in annoyance, almost directing his newly formed familiars in the direction of Hunter's party's position, some attempting their way up through the inside, only to be met with a prepared trap of piano wire and jerry rigged C4. Others, however, were smart enough to begin climbing up the walls of the building, though none would make it up as the group quickly shot them down._

_His presence would not be defiled by such petty beings. The Old One let out a low, trembling roar that filled the city with what felt like a quake. By this time, the Great One had majority of his upper body surfaced, and began to pull himself out onto the surface slowly, causing the two skyscrapers he so carelessly summoned into to fall over, crumbling under their own weight loss of structural support. The octopus-headed monster would merely groan in annoyance once more as he felt the rubble crash into him, finishing the job as he finally fully emerged from the opening, a large number of other beasts and creatures beginning to escape into this world. Some were reminiscent of mammals, others almost looked like 'demons', but none were of this realm and soon began to make their mark as they took flight or ran across the surface of the world. With one last roar, the Great One Cthulhu stomped on the opening from whence he came, seemingly shutting out anything else that might come through, and with that, the portal closed. This was his world. Anything that had escaped before he did so was beyond his reach and did not care what they did from that point._

_The group continued firing at whatever came through, whether it was some small creature or Cthulhu himself. However, they'd soon begin to cease fire as the Great Old One turned in their direction. They froze in their place in fear, one hugging their weapon in an attempt to comfort herself while another frantically began to sketch out what he was seeing. The deity of chaos did not do anything, however, only lowly growling in their direction before setting off with heavy, quake inducing footsteps through the city, in the most literal sense._

_“...it's over. The world as we know it...it's over,” a rather depressed sounding Hunter would mumble as he sat himself on the rooftop of the building, his head falling into his hands, “I thought that maybe we could, but no...Alex, you idiot...what'd you fucking unleash!?” He slammed his fist into the concrete, bloodying his knuckles and possibly injuring a finger, but it was useless to think about that. Cthulhu was now upon the world, as well as a number of creatures from the city of R'lyeh. It was no longer a question of how long could they stall Alexander and possibly stop him. It was now a question of how long could they live in this world before the towering monstrosity made a true mark on this world and turned it into something he desired._

_* * *_

_**2042** _

_**> Begin recording...** _

_“6 years...he roamed this planet for 6 years. 6 years of death. 6 years of transformation, terraforming, terror. More than half a decade of pain, loss, fear...you name it. And now, when I look back at the spot from there he came out from and returned through, I only count the days he decides to return, or anything else for that matter. There are...a number of new people that have spawned since the cross-over. And they're not human. Demons, monsters, anthromorphic beings...they're all a reality now. Stuff that we, as humans, only imagined and wrote about in stories. To think that the actions of my old friend, Alex, could have culminated something like this? I suppose I should be impressed, which is why I now understand why his followers were so loyal to his purpose...but no, this is the beginning of a new era. Pretty soon humanity will be nothing but something written about in stories. God damn it all, Alex...”_

_**> End of recorded message...** _

_**> End of record...** _

_“...this makes no sense. Something's up, but why? Some kind of secret? Nah...couldn't be...”_


	3. Descent

[If](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3YdIm_u6to)

_**Chapter 1: Descent** _

_The year is now 21 PR. A new era in the life span of the planet many know as 'Earth' or 'Gaia'. The era is a continuation on the old era of AD, which technically ceased around the year of 2100. In other words, it's 21 years Post Resurgence and life on the decrepit planet of what used to be a beautiful planet is nothing like it was before. Only 15 known major civilizations are known to exist, 3 of which occupy the West, South and Eastern coasts of what used to be known as the United States. These societies are closed, very unwelcoming of newcomers outside of said known civilizations. The most prominent and advanced society lies near the East coast of the former States, occupying the area formerly known as New York, now known as 'Novus City'. A simple adaption of a dead language that only the higher, pure bloods of its civilization know about. It's often wondered if these 'pure bloods' or 'pure breeds' are simply a myth meant to trick us 'lower breeds' into thinking there really is a type of social hierarchy, or if there are indeed those who are as pure as the animals we all mutated from after that event all so many years ago. It confuses a large number of us how we came to be at such a rapid pace..._

The tapping of callus tipped, nubby clawed digits would slowly cease, followed shortly after by a heavy sigh and low voiced obscenities. Obviously something had gotten on a certain tech-savvy's nerves as they were typing. The lights of what looked like a multi-monitor, multi-tower type rig would begin to power down after the sound of a single key being down for a few moments. The remaining lights in the dark room were the dim, soft-lit accessories on what appeared to be a rather lanky bodied, thin framed Fennec-Chihuahua mix. After a few more moments, the room would light up, revealing that it was indeed a male, one that was rather tall for his breed, standing at what was about five and a half feet. As the room lit up more and more, it was apparent it was much larger than what might have been initially assumed. A plethora of cybernetic junk and tech scrap littered the floor, along with the three or four tables covered in what looked like in-progress or failed projects. The dark concrete flooring, a rare sight nowadays, had many markings, some of which were reminiscent of graffiti, but were actually markings made by the Fen-Chi's roommates and, in some aspect, family members. However, this was possibly the only remaining building, let alone flooring, composed of the material. Everything at this point was generally formed from some sort of metal, or alternative to the material the floor was composed of. The male thought about this very thing for about a minute before he shook his head in disbelief that he'd gotten lost in thoughts about flooring. Then, with another sigh, he'd exit, hitting an illuminated button on the outside of the room, causing a heavy, secure door to close behind him.

He'd have to let his eyes readjust to the actual lighting of his living space, causing him to rub hetero-chromatic eyes until he felt comfortable enough to see in what was assumed to be the living area. He'd grunt a bit as he opened his eyes slowly, his pupils returning to their normal, thin slit shape. It seemed quiet for a weekend evening, though. No Fuzzball, no Hangtooth and most surprisingly no brat, annoying kid sister, despite him actually caring about her more than any one else at this point. He still remembered how they came to be like this. Growing up in the cyber slums of level 15, literally thought to be a couple of useless half-breeds after their parents realized the mistake of having hybrid children. It still bothered him that after his parents split that he was forced to raise his little pup of a sister on the streets. They had no other choice. And to make matters worse, she was blind until he finally started dabbling in cybernetics and implants around the age of 14. Even then, he had to hold off on her surgery, but once he was able to do it, he knew he was destined for greater things, even if that only meant moving up to the middle levels of living. He could only dream of proving himself able to live amongst the elite in levels 1-5. For now, he and his little ragtag group of family was forced to live down in level 13, where at least there was living space and actual buildings to convert into living spaces, like his warehouse he called home. A smile crossed his maw for a few seconds as he sat himself down on the old, nearly destroyed sofa that he and his sister used as a makeshift bed. He'd begin to close his eyes slowly, trying to think back to those days of struggle. Those days of near-death experiences really did a number on him and his sister. More specifically him. Luckily he was always blind in his left eye, or else those bludgeons to his head with the butts of plasma blasters would've scattered more than a brain cell or two. Thank goodness for cybernetic brain implants that both repaired and retained. It was because of these bad boys that he was able to run his business as successfully as he has, despite him having a couple of rather large scars under his beanie which he so faithfully wore...and to hide his horrible, messy hair. He was about to consult his holo-control panel that spawned from his wrist device when he was suddenly interrupted and thrown out of his focus, causing him to flinch and jump behind his resting place at the sound of a certain female's voice, “...Oxye! Where are you? We need to work on my hover-rocket-jet...board...thing!”

He'd groan silently as he ran a paw over his face, mouthing curse words and other offensive material. Why'd she have to pop up now? Wasn't she supposed to be down stairs in the workshop working on OTHER transportation, not her own? Unless she'd finished, of course. Then it'd make sense...but still, he wanted some time to himself, and he'd already closed off his personal workshop...junkyard...scrap room...yes. He'd navigate through the holo-panel that projected from his wrist device, one that was a bit outdated compared to his sister's, at least size-wise, until he came to a decision to just-, “-Oxye! I know you're here, nerd. You have the distinct scent of a geek who spends most of his days around tech.”

“Whoa, whoa...whoa!” he'd exclaim as he jumped up from behind his hiding place, a rather upset look on his face, “I spend most of my days around tech? Who's the girl that works on nothing but? Hover boards, bikes, all of that. That's tech. Big tech. Tech that YOU work with-”

“Yeah, yeah, now are you gonna help me or not? I wanna finish this project already and test it out on the streets, see if I can't cause some jealousy and possibly trouble. Would be fun to see the enforcers try to chase me down. Make headlines. 'Infamous Girl of Mysterious Species Breaks Record for Most Disruptive Activity on Level 13'. That has a great ring to it, don't you think?” she'd ask with a smirk on her face. She clearly had intentions to try and make what she said a reality...or at least attempt to.

Oxye would merely facepalm, grunting a bit as he felt he'd done it a bit too hard, “...ow. But no, it doesn't have a nice ring to it. In fact it's the exact opposite of what the hell we, and more specifically you, need. You're not even a local, earth-based species, for fuck's sake! Do you know what kind of attention that'd draw to you, Vosh?”

“The best kind.”

“...you're a bitch, you know that, right? Like a legitimate bitch. A loose cannon bitch. One of those girls who thinks they can take on the world, let alone the city.”

“...uh, did I walk in on something?” another feminine voice would cut in, though her voice was a bit less tomboyish, though if someone looked at her it would be clear that she could easily be mistaken as a male. A feminine one, but a male nonetheless, “Why are you calling her a bitch again, Oxye? Did she mess with another file or smack your head silly to the point where you felt your implants fizzle? If so...then get wrecked, nerd.” She'd merely scratch behind a ear that poked through her beanie with a cheesy smile, her orange-gray cyber-tech enhanced eyes glowing a bit. Her brother would look at her with an un-amused expression that have off the feeling of 'Fuck off, kiddo.'

“Right...but the answer's no tonight, Vosh. And nothing you do can change that. I have plans already. And speaking of those plans, where's your brother? I'm gonna need him,” he'd state as he moved out from behind the sofa, tapping and swiping along the holo-panel that still projected from his wrist device.

“Ventus?” she'd ask as she folded her arms across her chest, her weight shifting onto her left hip and locking it in a way that gave off the feeling that she didn't want him to NOT help her, “Why? Are you venturing down to the ground levels again? If so, I'm not telling y--” she'd cut herself off as she felt her shoulder nudged from behind, her fraternal twin and rather tall brother standing behind her. He'd give a chuckle then nod in Oxye's direction.

“He asked me ahead of time, and yes, we're heading down to the ground levels. Techy over there just requested I come along, for both protection and insight,” the taller Ngirrth'luin would state with a rather soft smile, despite his size. Obviously he was the one for the job he was asked to take, even if it was just for 'family' with no pay. He also didn't mind venturing down to the surface for once, “We'll be fine, promise. And if I do, then you can beat my corpse's head in with your new tools.”

“...I might just do that anyways, especially since I don't want anyone snooping around down there. We don't know if--” she would be cut off by a snarl from her larger, yet minute younger brother. He knew what he was getting into. He always got into trouble, physically anyways, if one couldn't tell from the numerous amount of scars that littered his arms. However, the thought of journeying down to the ground level did send somewhat of a chill down his spine, especially since he felt as if he had something to do with what was down there. Him and his sister. He'd merely shake his head as he ruffled his sister's hair a bit before turning and heading towards the entry door that led to the streets of Level 13, Oxye following behind him after he'd gathered a few things.

The two girls would merely go about their business, one of them heading to their room while the other hopped onto the sofa and began watching television. Meanwhile, the boys headed out onto the streets, one of them loaded with ammo, gun and blade; the other carrying a backpack with a plethora of drawing utensils, plasma torches, plasma chisels and a cord capable of plugging into the city's 'private' network, in case he needed something from it. It was noisy as usual on this level, other hybrids and mix breeds going about their usual low-life business, or attempts to work hard and try to move up to the middle levels of 6-10. Even then, the life of a Middle Level Citizen was hardly different from that of a Lower Level Citizen. The only difference was cost of living and pay, and more reasonable living conditions, which was something that the tech-savvy Fen-Chi sought for at least his sister and himself, if not just for his sister. However, when he looked back and up at Ventus, who towered above him by at least six inches, it became apparent to him that he was bound to live in the Lower Levels for quite awhile, especially considering his rather illegal, yet profitable business as an information broker.

As the only being on Level 13, let alone the Lower Levels in general, capable of slicing into the city's network for information that those like him could never gather on their own, it really was a profitable job. He could set his own prices, usually high but reasonable. It was because of this that he was able to convert the old warehouse into a home for himself, his sister and the twin nightmares, though the nightmare portion definitely applied to the female Ngirtth'luin more than the male.

Ventus would then suddenly step ahead of Oxye, turning to face down at him with his hands stuffed in his cargo short pockets, a half burnt cig hanging from his muzzle as he spoke, “If we find anything down there today, I want you to promise me that you're gonna keep it a secret,” he'd state in a rather dry and serious tone, something quite different from his rather common friendly tone, “You're a smart guy. Any kind of information that leaks out about me and Vosh...we'll be targeted. You said it yourself. And I know you have a bit of an issue with my sister, I don't blame you. She's hot headed and bullies you often, but she only does it because she does see you as family.” His expression would then shift to a slight smile, a more optimistic feeling radiating from him. Oxye merely gave a nod as he pointed in the direction of a rather old factory building, one that housed one of the last operational freight elevators that led down to the ground level.

“That's the place. There's an old elevator in there. Powered down again, most likely, but that's something I can take care of. There's another way, but I'd rather not slide through the sewage lines again and then have to get Molly to fly down there for me again. So...lead the way. I don't know what might be in there, and I sure as hell wouldn't be able to do much against anything,” he'd say as he gripped onto the straps of his backpack rather tightly, giving clear signs that he was indeed nervous of what might possibly be occupying the factory.

Ventus would give a chuckle as he pulled a smaller caliber plasma pistol from its holster, twirling it around for a bit before pointing it at the factory, the sound of a switch being flipped back and forth, “Safety on. Safety off. This should be small enough for you to handle, at least in a defensive situation. But you can trust me,” he'd state as he handed the gun to Oxye with his usual smile, “After all, we work together already, don't we?”

The Fen-Chi would nod as he nervously took the weapon, flipping the switch into safe mode as he placed it against the magnetic holster that he'd modified onto his belt in case he ever did decide to take a weapon. Convenience at its finest. With that, they made their way in the direction of the old, abandoned building. Wires, metal work and other various amounts of rusted tech protruded from the walls of the place. The factory obviously had no use now. Something like this might've only been used to forge the first five levels of Novus City due to the technology not being quite as advanced at the time. Practical, but nothing special.

They soon arrived at the threshold of the front entrance. There was no power being directed into it at all. Damaged wires weren't crackling, lights were completely off and the stench of oils, lubricants and other various factory scents filled the air that seemed to stale as they made their way in slowly. The taller male would cough a bit, unused to stale air seeing as he was always out and about, though it wouldn't bother the Fen-Chi as he spent majority of his days in his personal workshop. However, something would begin to feel off as the sound of water, or some sort of liquid, dripping to the ground could be heard. Oxye would nudge Ventus a bit as he silently noted that the floor was actually covered in random puddles, only revealed after the techy increased the luminosity of his holo-panel wrist device, causing the lights to brighten up the room like a makeshift flash light. The Ngirrth'luin nodded as he too pulled out a flash light of his own. There was no reason for this place to have running water, if that was indeed the reason behind the wet floor.

They journeyed a bit deeper into the factory, the phantom echos of old moving parts and assembly line robotics echoing throughout the factory level of the building. Oxye went ahead of Ventus a bit, making his way towards what he thought was a still stable set of metal stairs. He illuminated the area near him to check for possible rusted metal and any signs of wear-and-tear. He couldn't make out any obvious signs, so he assumed what most anyone would and began to descend down the steps.

Something didn't sit right with Ventus, though. The sounds they were hearing shouldn't have been happening, phantom or not. The factory was unoccupied as far as they knew, “Y'know, something just doesn't sit right with me, Ox-” he'd begin to say before cutting himself off as he thought he caught sight of someone or something else approaching the stairs Oxye had already begun to descend. He couldn't quite make out what it was, so instincts took control and he began charging towards said stairs, “Oxye, behind you!”

The sound of Ventus yelling set off Oxye's anxiety, causing him to slip and begin falling down the last flight of stairs, cries of minor pain and possible injury coming from the Fen-Chi as he looked up to where he just came down from, only to catch sight of two figures: a large one he was sure was Ventus and rather small one that seemingly fled from the scene as quick as it was caught. Both males caught sight of what they believe was a rather long, voluminous tail much like Ventus', as well as the faint coloration of the figure's possible eyes, but nothing more, “Ngirrth'luin...?” he'd ask himself silently. Only the sounds of it jumping through and onto equipment in the dark, distant area of the factory would be heard afterwards. However, it did sound like it made it into the vents or sewage line of the factory.

Ventus made his way down to the main floor in a hurry, kneeling down next to Oxye and offering him a hand, “You alright? I caught sight of whatever that was right before it started to follow you. Might've just been a low-life mutant. Probably should've taken a shot at-”

“No, I'm fine, and no, that would've given away that we're in here. Places like this are generally closed off to the general public, you know. This one's just been through enough hell for us to have an easy time getting in. Hopefully you're right with it just being some kind of mutant that occupies places like this. Probably some overfed rat or something.” He'd then take Ventus' help and stand back up onto his feet, grunting and dusting himself and his equipment off, making sure nothing fell loose, “Alright, let's keep moving. I can see the elevator over there.”

Ventus would keep a straight face as he watched Oxye move over towards the old contraption, only standing back up onto his own two booted feet after he pre-loaded his plasma pistol, one of a higher caliber, and held it in his hand outside of its holster. The techy male would then pull out the cord he'd brought along, plugging one end into an exposed port on the elevator control panel and the other into his holo-device, bringing up the holo-panel that he would begin to rapidly tap his fingers onto, the sounds of an artificial keyboard echoing throughout the room until a few crackles were heard, the sound of a surge of power being routed to the elevator's engines, controls and anything else needed to make it, and only it, operational once more, “...and-- that should do it. Yeah, easier than I thought it'd be. I'd explain it, but I doubt you have any interest in-”

“Let's move, Ox. Don't wanna upset the local, or locals, anymore than we already have,” Ventus would interrupt the Fen-Chi, giving him a slight shove into the freight elevator. Oxye would give a slightly nervous nod as he frantically disconnected the cable and stowed it back into his bag, using his holo-device to access the elevator controls remotely. The squeal and roar of the elevator's engines powering up and beginning their movement filled the factory before it began to move downwards, towards the surface of what was once Earth.

* * *

“...I'm giving them 3 hours, Molly. After that, we're going down looking for them,” a rather worried Vosh would state as she anxiously toyed around with her plasma wrench, tapping it against the heel of her boot. This was the first time in a long time her brother would be spending a rather long amount of time away from her, and despite her attitude, it was clear that she saw him as the older twin.

“They'll be fine. Ventus has the manpower and Oxye has the brainpower. I'm sure they'll be back before then, girl. Besides, there's not much we can honestly do. I can't fire a gun, let alone see more than like...15 feet in front of me, even with these implants.”

“Right...guess we'll just have to wait and see...”


	4. Realization

[Spectre](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz_W-BIYdEw)

_**Chapter 2: Realization** _

_From past records, it's assumed Novus City was constructed off the coast. Obviously those records were lies transmitted down to the Lower Levels in order to prevent anyone, even at the Middle Levels, from knowing truths about Novus City, it's law enforcement and structure. Accessed databases have revealed that the city was never meant to have the 'Level' System, the factories that occupy the first 5 Levels, Levels 11-15, being a hint. These 'factories' were quite advanced for their time, and for them to reside on the tops of old, decrepit sky rise buildings made them a marvel to see. The cooperation of the many beings that existed at the time, whether it was humanoids or anthromorphic beings, caused a great flourish to take place, a sudden jump in technology and medicine to a point where societies could move past the limitations of a previous civilization's. 5 sky rises, each with different heights, were chosen. Each building was then reinforced to support the foundation and weight of said factories and 'hollowed' in order to have freight-type elevators constructed inside in order to transport workers and supplies upwards, as well as back down to the surface, which was already much too hazardous to occupy in the first place, yet...people found a way. From the foundations of these sky-high factories began the construction of the first 5 Levels, but these 'Levels' were merely designed to provide more living space to the society. Eventually these 'Cityscapes', once they were finished and titled, were enclosed in a large, protective shell in the shape of a flat, triangular prism, and thus was born 'Novus City'. Now the city has designated its foundation the slums and has taken up a rather three dimensional shape, looking moreso like a 3 sided pyramid than anything, giving off the feeling of societal hierarchy and dystopia..._

The tapping of callus tipped digits would cease as the sound of a holo-panel powering down followed. The elevator upon which Oxye and Ventus had begun to take down to the surface of the world screeched and roared as it roughly descended. It would buck, jump and even sometimes freeze in place before suddenly dropping a foot or two as the engines and power supply restarted the old mechanism. It was surprising the wires that held the elevator cart up and pulled it were even able to survive this long. The motions that kept occurring were beginning to affect Oxye, however. His breathing had intensified quite a bit and he'd already begun to press a paw against his chest while the other gripped at one of his back pack's straps tightly, yet shakily. It would literally kill him right now if he were to think about this junky contraption being his end rather than something more notable, like stress and celebration over the liberation of him and his sister, and possibly the twins, from their low life living.

The rather tall Ngirrth'luin has already set himself into somewhat of a meditative state as the elevator continued to descend roughly, only snapping out of it when he heard Oxye whimper a bit, “...nervous, huh? We'll be alright, buddy. I'm sure you did your research, hehe, “ he'd comment with a soft smile, patting the Fen-Chi on the shoulder a bit to reassure him, which is mostly what he needed at the moment. The sewage lines were much easier the last time since they literally provided a makeshift slide down to an old canal on the surface, dry as it may be. But Ventus was right. He'd done his research on this machine...just he was hoping it wouldn't work so that they would have to use the sewage lines, although now that he thought of it, that idea probably wouldn't have sat well with his reasonably sized accomplice.

“Even for this only being the third longest elevator shaft, this is taking quite awhile to descend, don't you think Ventus?”

“Definitely, but it's an old machine,” he'd comment as he began to light another cig that rested on his lip, “Sure it can't be much longer to the ground, though. And when we get there, let's make it quick. I can already feel Vosh freakin' out. Damn sister is such a pushover...”

“Pushover...right...”

“Like I said before, she only picks on you so much because she actually cares about you like a family member, Ox. We don't have much of a history with family, so you and Molly are as close as we can get, and I'm damn glad it's like this.”

The techy would raise a paw to say something, but would merely sigh with a slight smile, a rare sight. Ventus was once again right, and he was glad that he'd asked him to come along. Despite him being three, nearly four, years older than the guy, his mentality and demeanor gave off the feeling of an older sibling. One he could trust with his life, which he definitely did.

Before they knew it, the elevator began to come to a loud, screeching halt, only finishing its descent as it a rough impact with the base of the shaft, causing the boys to lose their footing and topple into the walls of the cart. A bit of dust had been kicked up from the impact as well, filling the cart up until the doors of it opened up in an extremely slow fashion. Coughing, grunting and groaning followed suit until the dust settled and the two of them finally stepped out of the machine. The base of the building that hosted the shaft was extremely dark, only lit up by Ventus' flash light and Oxye's multiple LED fixtures on his clothing. They both thought they heard something else, however. The sound of feet or otherwise scurrying off of the top of the elevator cart, but like they had assumed before, it was more than likely a rat or something. They both shook their heads in unison at each other with smirks on their faces before moving out of the building's main entrance.

It was strange, however. Even for the time of day, it was still pretty light on the surface. This thought caused Ventus to think in silence for a moment as he tried to figure out why, only to be nudged by Oxye and directed to look up at the bottom of Novus City above them, the multiple lights from disposal ports, exposed wiring and power units giving them a light source as they walked on the surface of the old city once known as 'New York'. There really wasn't much to see, aside from the engineering marvels that held the city above them up. From the old sky rises converted into support structures and elevator shafts, to the three giant support beams that jutted from the surface of the planet into the three corners of the city and held it up, Oxye was in more awe at these things than he was before, “You know, despite how fucked things are or can seemingly be up inside there, you can't help but appreciate the lengths we've had to go through in order to actually have something like this...”

“Yeah...engineering magic, I'm guessing. Some black magic, too, if you catch my drift...”

“Can't disagree with you there. Definitely does set some alarms off when thought about,” the Fen-Chi would comment as he pulled his goggles that were fixed on top of his beanie down over his eyes. The accessory had been heavily modified and acted as more than just a visual aid. The lenses had been upgraded to stream information over holo-screens as well as scan the immediate vicinity for threats, information or unknown objects. Unfortunately the devices only worked when light was present, otherwise he'd be just as blind, if not more blind, if he were to wear them up inside of the old factory, “Alright, looks like that elevator brought us down to the Central-Western area of the city. If I'm not mistaken, the last place I went was the North-Central area, and that's where I found some posters and weird language etched into the walls of what seemed to be a subway system.”

“A subway system? I'm surprised you ventured down here the first time like you did without aid. Spooky things live in tunnels, don't y'know?”

“Shut it. I'm not getting anything abnormal here. Let's move East more. Apparently that's the direction we're gonna wanna head in order to find some more interesting stuff.”

“Like what?” the tall Ngirrth'luin would ask with a slight snarl, exhaling a large cloud of smoke from his nostrils in the process, “The only thing I know of over where you're wanting to go is the gate me and Vosh came from. You're not trying to--”

“No, I'm not trying to figure out how it works, go through it, try to open it, try to summon something through it, attempt to send you two back through it, close it off for good, or anything else that might entail the thing in any way, shape or form. That's just where I was getting the most readings from the first time I was down here, I just didn't have time or the courage to go over by myself because I was picking up activity from the damn thing itself. Which concerns me, because whatever we caught sight of, or lack of sight of, had a feature very comparable to one of yours, my physically tall friend.”

“And what exactly would that be?”

The Fen-Chi would then point at Ventus' tail with a straight face, “Your tail. I've done my research. Many other canids have similarly shaped and sized tails, but the dimensions from base to tip do not, and never have, matched yours and Vosh's. Now c'mon, I have data and information to harvest. This kind of stuff can land us a fortune-- and I don't mean anything that links to you or Vosh. Everything else is game. Imagine the kind of awards I could get for finally unveiling that those stories about those 'Great Old Ones' weren't just nightmarish stories and actual beings, Ven--”

He'd be cut off as a rather upset Ventus walked up to him, towering and looking down on the Fen-Chi with a rather serious expression, “Vosh and I ARE linked to a Great Old One, Ox. Anything you reveal about Ngirrth'lu, or any other Great One for that matter, would jeopardize not only our lives, but yours and Molly's as well. You're a smart guy. Think about it. You know how this city works. You've already confirmed for yourself that the Elite up in the highest five Levels will do whatever they can to cleanse us out of the city, and any of our work that may or may not have gotten out. It'd be a mass genocide of the Lower and possibly even Middle Levels. That's what they want, Ox. They want Novus City for their own. Do you know how many lives I've had to watch pass me by because of them being assassinated behind my back when I'm on assignments without you? Too many.” Obviously what Oxye had said touched Ventus in a rather negative manner. He'd never seen Ventus this concerned and adamant about a situation before aside from maybe when it involved his sister.

“...I-I see. Well, let me rephrase what I was saying. I don't have any intention of selling information about the Great Old Ones themselves, Ventus. Merely just the confirmation that they exist, because this kind of stuff is being kept hidden from everyone. It keeps everyone not living in Levels 1-5 in the dark and living in this dystopian society. We don't even know if those who live up there are even actually 'pure'. They could just be some power-hungry crazies who want to rule the city for themselves. But the city was never meant for that, like at all. It was built to house everyone and everything, including humans if they managed to survive till now. This place was supposed to be a step forward when beings like us emerged, not two steps back. I-If people knew about what happened here, they'd stop being so afraid of the Elite. We could revolutionize Novus City and finally live in the city we all want to live in, and the Level system would cease to exist! No more slums, no more struggling and no more underground business. We wouldn't have to be afraid.” Oxye was just as adamant about his intentions as Ventus was his concerns, and after a long pause of silence and eye-up-to-eye staring, the two finally did their signature handshake, with the last motion being a brotherly hug, “Oof...! Glad we understand each other, Ventus.”

“No problem, bro. I'm here for you if you're here for us.”

And with that, the two finally set off towards the Eastern section of the old cityscape of New York. It was honestly surprising that the two were able to navigate the water covered, destroyed terrain as easily as they had been, only struggling when they came across a fallen building or large amounts of debris that seemed to litter the entire surface. It became a bit depressing when they started to catch sight of other things, however. Seemingly preserved corpses of victims of past events began to appear more and more as they kept moving East towards the true center below Novus City. What through them off the most, however, was the sight of a corpse that seemed to don what looked like a gas mask of sorts and lay face down with its lower half crushed and covered by a flipped over vehicle of sorts. The area around the corpse reeked of brine and oils. Oxye wanted to gather as much information from this as he could, signaling Ventus to watch his back for the time being. He'd begin to jot down information into his holo-device via holo-panel as his goggles weren't able to gather anything relevant to the body. It was almost as if it was neither human or anything else that was recorded to exist in the world, not yet anyways. And the atmosphere that surrounded the corpse was eerie. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he'd say it was almost...lively. Creatures like Ventus and Vosh gave off a similar feeling when in a single area for a good amount of time. But this...this was different. It had a human body. There's no way it could--

* * *

She had been perched up inside of a nearby building for some time. Her small robes were already dirty and smelled funny. She had no idea why she was even here, why she, for some reason, consciously decided to come through. She was even more confused why the first two people she'd come in contact with reacted like they did. She didn't want to hurt anybody, yet one of them did get hurt, or at least she thought they did. It caused her to whimper a bit, almost cry until she looked out of the broken window near her perch, only to see the two of them she'd seen before reacting to something that she thought was interested, yet terrifying. She wouldn't stay around much longer, though. It was too scary for her. She retreated back into the building on all fours, still terrified of what she'd seen.

* * *

“Holy fucking shit!” an extremely terrified Fen-Chi would yell as he scurried from his spot, dropping his back pack and drawing utensils that he'd pulled out in an attempt to draw what he was examining, “Ventus, shoot it, shoot it now!”

“What are you going on about Ox--” he'd cut himself off as he immediately drew out and fired a shot of his plasma pistol into the cranium of what Oxye was yelling about. It'd stop its movements in a split second after being penetrated by the shot, but Ventus did not holster as he began to move in, helping Oxye to his feet, watching over him as he gathered his things, “What the hell is that?” he'd ask himself in a low voice, kicking at the head of whatever it was that apparently tried to attack his friend. Its mask had been removed to reveal it was a human...but not a human. Not a zombie either. Something else, reminiscent of creatures he used to see back in his old home of R'lyeh, “...so it's true then.”

“Fuck! Ventus, this shit is proof! Something happened when that thing...dude! Cthulhu! It has a mouth like him!” an anxious Fen-Chi would exclaim as he began to frantically began to sketch out the scene, Ventus and the humanoid monster he was looking at, that'd nearly grabbed his foot.

“Cthulhu...but that happened so long ago. And this seems so recent,” Ventus would begin to comment and talk with himself as he nudged the skull of the creature some more, “But it's human...it would take years for a human exposed to the environment of R'lyeh to develop features like this. And it's young, too. As if this had happened less than--”

“A century ago, I know. I've been trying to tell you guys this for the longest time.”  
“But it doesn't make any sense. Cthulhu was gone for years upon years. I'm talking like almost two centuries here in this place and how time works.”

“Well obviously time is much different there than here, because this shit is pretty fucking recent, and that corpse you're idly kicking over there is just part of the proof. And if this is the case, then maybe another being from R'lyeh made it through to here as well. It could maybe explain--”

“Are you trying to imply that thing we saw in the factory was Ngirrth'luin? Because that'd be impossible. Only Alpha-types are able to access stuff like that.”

“I'm not implying anything, I'm making an assumption based on what we've found so far, and it might not be too unlikely that your Mother-Father, or so you've called them, had another child, seeing as she was from the previous generation and an Alpha. Maybe it was her. Maybe she was actually tiny and that could explain why Vosh is such a short, little Fuzzball.”

A few moments of awkward silence would follow before the two began to chuckle and laugh, both hysterically and nervously. They were getting off track here. It'd been nearly an hour and a half. If they didn't finish up soon, they were gonna end up have to worry about something else besides odd things like they'd encountered already, and that something else would be a certain female Ngirrth'luin and Fen-Chi pair roaring down from a main entrance on prototype transportation to come down and possibly beat them senseless. And with that, they agreed to press on, though Ventus swore he heard someone or something else scurry away in a nearby building, “Hmph...probably just a ghost or somethin'.”

The atmosphere began to feel more and more humid and smell of seawater the more they approached the center of it all, right below the exact center of Novus City. At this point, however, they ran into a rather large wall of debris that seemed to surround the true center from every direction. After some exploring, however, they came across an old service ladder tunnel that led down into what was the old subway system. Surprisingly, there was a small bit of power running through the system, enough to at least keep the lights in it lit dimly. The briny atmosphere still reached down in these tunnels, and felt even stronger because of it being enclosed and stale due to no air circulation. Oxye was having a slightly hard time navigating between the railings due to his bare feet, but Ventus merely walked along with no issues due to him actually donning footwear, the sound of rocks, dirt and gravel crunching beneath his foot steps. Before long, they approached what used to be a station, though something was definitely off about the structure of it compared to the diagrams Oxye had downloaded, “These tunnels that branch off from this station aren't supposed to be here. There aren't even rails going down them, and look,” he'd explain as he stepped through the entrance of a tunnel, only to signal Ventus over as he pointed out the writings in old blood stained into the concrete walls, “This looks like the kind of writing you guys use as graffiti in my workshop. Mentioning stuff about that 'Alex' figure and Cthulhu.”

Ventus glared at the writing, wondering how the blood was so well preserved, but moreso disgruntled that it was due to the dabblings of what was turning out to be Cult-type activity that brought about the merge of his home and this world. They were never meant to coexist. If it weren't for the weakened link of the portal between the two places due to Cthulhu's actions, R'lyeh would have surely consumed this place by now, “This blood isn't natural. It looks tainted, black even. Still signs of a slight crimson color, just...very, very dark. Unnatural, I guess.”

“Corrupted blood? Mutated? Think it might explain what we saw before. Or maybe it has to do with this 'Alex' I keep seeing written all over the tunnel in different styles and with different phrases.”

Ventus nodded as he looked down the tunnel a bit more, shining his flashlight down the way in order to see how far it really went, which turned out to lead him to believe this tunnel was circular and designed around something much larger, “Stick close and don't worry about collecting anything else right now, Ox. Grab anything on the way, sure, but we're following this tunnel. I'm about as curious in what the hell happened here as you are now.” The Ngirrth'luin snarled as he let out yet another large cloud of smoke from his nostrils, tossing the cigarette bud from his maw down the tunnel.

They'd walk for about five minutes or so along the curved tunnel until they came across a rather large entrance of sorts, and that entrance led into what looked like an atrium, literally hand carved to mimic a standard atrium from R'lyeh, at least that's what Ventus concluded from what little he remembered about R'lyehian architecture. In the center of the large room was what looked to be the remains of an altar, and a large collection of skeletal remains surrounding the base of it, “...a sacrifice chamber? What a bunch of idiotic lunatics. They really were wanting to bring their world to an end, weren't they?” Ventus would comment as he lit another cig and did as he usually did, another large cloud of smoke following suit, “I'm guessing that 'Alex' figure you keep reading about was probably their prophet, or at least leader.”

“Harbinger, more like it. He wasn't bringing anything great to this world, or she. I dunno. Ambiguous name with ambiguous evidence.”

“You seemed pretty sure about all of this not too long ago.”

“It's been like half an hour. A lot changes in half an hour.”

“On a technical and technological basis, maybe, but...”

“But nothing, dude. Now c'mon. I think there may be some more stuff on our way back out. This place is giving me the creeps. Too much dry blood and skeletons,” he'd say as he shivered a bit, “Fucking skeletons...”

Ventus reluctantly agreed to drop anymore speculation about what he believed was the result of a cult actually succeeding. He'd follow the techy back out the way they came, letting him investigate any rooms they came across to gather whatever information he so desired, whether it was posters, writing or him sketching things he wasn't able to collect physically. Ventus himself would simply take down mentally the nightmarish phrases and wall paintings, of which he informed Oxye about for collection. Something instinctual took over, however, “Oxye, stay here or head back up and call one of the girls down for you. I've got something I wanna check out...”

The Fen-Chi merely shrugged. He was too deep in his research and information gathering to honestly care if Ventus wanted to do something for himself. After all, he didn't have to come down with him, so it was only fair that he allowed the Ngirrth'luin to do at least one thing on his own, “Yeah, just don't trigger anything or get yourself killed. We got a job tomorrow that's gonna earn us a large sum of dosh, know what I mean...? Ventus? Huh...must be gone doing whatever he was gonna do already.” Oxye shook his head with a slight smile, knowing that he'd managed to sneak a cheeky joke into what he'd mentioned. Hopefully Ventus wouldn't be too long. He was pretty serious about the job for tomorrow.

He would feel his heart drop, however, when he turned to see that Ventus hadn't returned after what felt to be about ten or fifteen minutes. And it was deathly quiet aside from the sounds of his devices saving any information he'd gathered. He slowly lifted his goggles up from his eyes and placed them back on top of his headwear, gathering up any of his tools and materials before leaving his last room stop. He was sure the tall guy had headed back to that terrifying atrium, or sacrificial chamber as Ventus had called it, to maybe reminisce about his old home, but after about five minutes of walking to reapproach the room, his thoughts were shot down and his breathing intensified, “...shit...”

* * *

“Okay, it's been three hours. We're going down there whether they like it or not, Molly. Get your wing-thingies and I'll get my hover-board thingy. And before you say anything about it being a bad idea to take our prototype things on an unsanctioned test drive, think about this. Your brother has been missing for three hours, too. So strap your stuff on and--” the Ngirrth'luin punk girl would be cut off as a much shorter, androgynous Fen-Chi girl placed a hand over her muzzle.

“Oxye's breathing and heart rate are worse than usual. Something must be really, really bad. I've never had my holo-device go off like this. In fact, I don't think I even remember this being a feature. He must've installed it in case he-”

Vosh would yank Molly's small paw away from her mouth, “Exactly my fuckin' point, now let's go. I swear, when I'm in range to trigger Ventus' shock collar, oh~ boy. He'll know not to ever leave me alone like this again.”

Molly would give Vosh a look of both disapproval and disappointment, “...seriously? You really are a selfish bitch. But let's go. I'm gonna need you to lead. Oxye hasn't updated my visual implants in awhile. Remember what I said about only being able to see about 15 feet ahead?”

“Alright, geez, fuck. Okay, I get it. You're a needy little sister with a nerd of an older brother who's able to--”

The Ngirrth'luin would be cut off and brought back to a reasonable mentality as she felt a soft, yet clearly intended to be painful slap across her face from the 4'8” teenager, “Stop talking for once, will you? Let's just go already.” The Fen-Chi girl then opened up her brother's personal workshop via the secure door, her being the only other resident in the warehouse that knew the access code. They both grabbed their prototype transportation devices, with Molly hooking up and programming the hover-wings to work off of her back pack that was similar in design to Oxye's, and Vosh powering up her board, though it was very experimental in design, hence why it ran on combustible fuel and magnetics for the time being. With that, the girls headed out of the front entrance of their warehouse and home in a rather hurried fashion. The entry recognized the two of them and acknowledged that no one else occupied the building, causing it to lock itself down until one of them reopened it securely. Vosh tossed her board down, the magnetics keeping it afloat on the metal surface of the streets. From the side of the thing were two controllers that wired into the base of the board, one of which controlled the thrust of the jets and the other which controlled the pitch. With a kick of Vosh's booted heel onto the back of the board, it powered up. Molly's wings were already nearly perfected, the only trouble she had being the start up of the software that linked up to her holo-device that was worn like a bracelet. With that, the two were mobile and immediately set out towards a forbidden access tunnel that led directly out of the city's lower levels to the outside world and down to the surface.

“Molly, you better catch me when that tunnel ends. This thing isn't a proper hover-vehicle yet, y'know!” Vosh would exclaim as the tunnel's end approached, “...Molly!”

“Gotcha!” a rather bubbly voiced Molly would yell as she caught the attitude child that was Vosh, hooking her small arms under Vosh's. Luckily the board had already been designed with straps in mind, so it stayed hooked onto Vosh's booted feet, despite the weight causing them to begin dropping at a rather uncomfortable rate, “We're going down, Captain!”

“Stay focused, Skipper! I can see the ground!”

“You got it, Coach!”

“You do me proud, Private!”

The roar of Molly's wings stressing to fight the forces of gravity and extra weight could be heard as it echoed throughout the entire old city of New York, causing some old, weak windows to shatter as they descended in their amateur flight. A minute would pass before the two were within a reasonable distance for Vosh to be released, which Molly did without hesitation, causing the Ngirrth'luin to scream in terror as she prepared herself to counter her hard landing by over thrusting the jets of her board downwards before she hit the ground. Obviously she wasn't going to float due to the very early design of the board not reacting to anything but metal surfaces, but at the very least she could try to fly around using only the jets. Her screaming intensified as she was within meters of colliding with the ground. She'd continue to do so as she fired the jets up, causing her to begin to slowly approach the ground until the base of the board made contact with the ground, though her screaming would persist.

Meanwhile, a certain androgynous Fen-Chi would be waiting on the ground for the Ngirrth'luin girl already, watching with an unamused expression as she watched the terrified pushover continue to scream even after making safe contact with the ground. She even took the opportunity to record the scene for personal blackmail later on if it so came down to it, “Hey Princess, you've touched ground. You can stop trying to signal the enforcement.”

Vosh would continue for a few more seconds before slowly ceasing to scream, her eyes looking around as she realized that she'd been screaming for over a minute straight, “...oh, I'm alive. Hah! And he said this thing wasn't ready!” She'd then kick the back of the board again, powering it down and replacing the controllers back where they were originally, “Now, where do we head from here? I wanna assume the--”

“Service ladder tunnel right by your feet. We need to head down that, through what looks like an old subway tunnel to a station with a rather interesting, carved out design and that's where Oxye will be, in one of the tunnels. Oh, and Ventus. After you, Vosh...Vosh...? Vosh. Where'd you g- oh, you're already moving down...fast. Well crap.” Molly then followed behind just as quickly, catching up to the punk mechanic and engineer after a bit of struggling over the rails.

They quickly made their way down the carved out tunnel to Oxye, who looked like he was about to pass out from an anxiety attack, Molly quickly tending to him as Vosh winked at the two and continued past them into the room that Ventus had to have been in. What she saw and what he saw was something that they would never have expected, and would change their views for a long time.

* * *

_30 minutes earlier before Ventus re-entered the Atrium..._

Curiosity finally got the best of her. She wanted to know why those two had gone down into that tunnel. It looked dark and scary, and the smell from it reminded her of home. She didn't like home. That's where others were mean to her just because of her size and how she looked, and she wasn't the same age as anyone else. Maybe she was an accident. She shook her little head as she stared down the tunnel, wondering how she'd get down there. There were some bars that she assumed worked like the ladders from her home, but they looked dangerous and dirty. Finally, with a sigh, she braved the dirty ladder and made her way down the tunnel, following as quietly as she could behind the two boys who she felt weren't friendly, but wanted to ask them something.

Instead of following the same tunnel they did, she took a different one. One that looked like it had some lights in it still. She didn't like the dark too much, at least not when she was by herself. She was always told that the dark had scary things in it, like other monsters who could eat her. She whimpered a bit at the memory of her mother telling her that, and it made her want to go back, but she didn't want to risk her mother being mad at her, so maybe it was best for her to stay stuck here. She came across a small entrance to a very big room with some scary stuff in the center, though she immediately jumped back out of it when she heard one of the boys walk into it as well. She peeked around the corner for a second to see what they were doing, but waited until they left to go back in.

She skipped along on all fours as she slowly approached the table thing in the middle of the room, poking at the bones, or what she thought were bones. Some of them seemed to poof into dust when she did it, so she stopped and continued to look around, only to stop her movement when she heard the sound of something dangerous click behind her head, she turned around slowly and looked up. It was the tall one and he was talking to her in a soft, yet scary voice, “So you're what's been following us since the old factory...pretty pale for a Ngirrth'luin...”


	5. Ashborn

[Lullaby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nTJ3csrihc)

_**Chapter 3: Ashborn** _

_If you're accessing this file, then I have either finally died in the most memorable way possible and have successfully given my sister and 'friends' the most desirable life I and they could ever want, even if it doesn't mean it's not...forget it. The point here is that I'm dead and I'm simply making this as a mockery of your attempts to access my actual databases. So nice tr--_

The sound of a soft-toned, androgynous Fen-Chi would echo around the techy, “Ox...ye! O...ye! Vos...! Come slap hi-...No, not with that...! Yes, your ha...” Before he knew it, the boy woke up at the feeling of a rather rough smack across his muzzle, snapping him out of his little day-nightmare. He blinked a few times as he slowly caught his breath in an attempt to calm himself down, catching sight of the female Ngirrth'luin walking away over towards the entrance to that nightmarish, skeleton filled atrium, “Oxye...? Hey, you alright? Geez...did you really start having an episode over something you came looking for in the first place? Vosh was right, you and Ventus shouldn't have come down here. Especially if you have a fear of the unknown. Which makes me wonder why this is even a hobby of yours. Then again, you are an information broker. I'm guessing you have the job so you can keep yourself up to date with information so you can try to think two steps ahead, even if that causes anxiety attacks. And I thought I was a wreck with my artificially fixed vision...”

He was still in a bit of a daze. What exactly had transpired in the past few minutes? All he remembered was seeing some pale, ghostly looking image of what looked like another Ngirrth'luin and Ventus taking aim at its head. He couldn't remember if it was the small being, Ventus' course of action or him looking back into the room to see that pile of skeletal remains that sent him into this, but either way it happened. He placed a quivering paw on his chest and pressed down as he felt some pressure build around his chest from his heavy breathing, “...your meds! Right, you told me to keep them on me, for some reason. Probably because you only trust me with them, huh? I don't see why you didn't ask Ventus to hol- oh, right. He's busy in that room with whatever it is.” Oxye weakly rolled his eyes as he listened to the ramblings of his teenage sister, wanting very much so to stand up and hold her mouth shut, though that wouldn't stop her. The girl was a chatterbox with people she knew, and even moreso when she was gaming online. Never in his life would he have imagined her to be so talented at the games she played, and more unbelievable was the amount of trash talking, verbal beatings and verbal organization of plans that came from that mouth of hers. She used to be so quiet. Maybe he really was dead. With that thought in mind, he began to drift off into a nap, though he'd continuously be interrupted by Molly as she repeatedly poked his forehead with one of her small, nubby clawed digits, “Seriously, wake up. You nearly wrecked yourself for once, and it took a slap from Vosh to bring you back. C'mon...” she'd say as he felt her attempting to lift him up onto his feet.

“No, just...leave me here. Go check on whatever those two are dealing with. I just need to calm down, take these meds and like...rest. Not sleep, just relax. I promise. Don't bite me.”

The Fen-Chi girl would groan and shrug as she listened to her older brother, turning to wherever it was Vosh and Ventus had gone in order to keep an eye on them in case either of them had a reaction she could record as blackmail or shove them for an even better reaction. The thought of Vosh losing her footing on the steps when and if she freaked out caused her to giggle as she continued to walk, though her eyes were closed as she continued to chuckle. Eventually she would find herself with a face stuffed by the rather voluminous tail of Fuzzball, who surprisingly had a larger tail than her brother, at least in terms of fur volume. Definitely the weaker tail of the two, though, “Mmph...! Ptew! Vosh, your tail's up. Why? And it smells like a mix of gasoline, oil and other artificial crap. Did you even shower today? You smell like you left the workshop, went upstairs and sat your happy ass down in your room.”

“I did. Now shut up.”

“...you're disgusting.”

Vosh gave a nonchalant shrug as she continued to watch with rather wide eyes down at her brother who, for some reason, still had his plasma pistol still aimed at the little girl's head, at least she thought it was a girl. She wore similar robes to what she did as a pup. And judging by the design of them, with the hems decorated in the ancient language of the Great Old Ones, she was an Alpha-type. It didn't make sense to her, though. Alpha-types looked like herself in terms of fur color, patterning, etc. This little girl, even with her little hood on, her sleeves dangling past her paws and the skirt touching the ground, could be identified as...pale, from her face and ears that poked out from the holes in her hood. Not much else could be made out, though. The robe was clearly intended for the smallest pup in a brood, but even then it was too small for her, yet...she was an Alpha-type. And she was pale! Albino? Albino. But...Alpha! Vosh shook her head a bit as she tried to wrap her mind around this and focus back on the situation at hand, “...Ventus, put the gun away. You're probably scaring her, which honestly is surprising because you're not intimidating. Like at all.”

A light snarl emitted from Ventus, a final cloud of smoke releasing as he spat his most recent cig to the ground beside him, putting out the butt with his booted foot, “Coming from the supposed older twin that screamed for a minute and a half straight AFTER making safe contact on the surface with her board. And I'm sure she's not scared. She probably doesn't even know what this i--”

“Please don't hurt me!” the little Ngirrth'luin girl would shriek as she crouched down to the floor, her hood now pulled over her face entirely to avoid any further eye, or rather eye-to-barrel, contact. She was terrified. She made a horrible mistake following those boys down here. She had a feeling they were going to be mean and hostile towards her, but she never expected the taller, friendlier looking one to point something she assumed was meant to hurt her at her, “Don't hurt me, please!”

The crew all seemed to blink in unison at the little girl's voice. It had a vague resemblance to another Ngirrth'luin's tone when she was younger. Even Oxye, who managed to finally get himself up onto his feet and use the doorway as support, turned his attention to who's voice it was similar to, “...what the hell are you all looking at? All little Ngirrth'luin girls have that voice, okay? That scared, timid, terrified tone of fear and uh...yeah...” she'd say as she attempted to shuffle away slowly, her hands now behind her back, rubbing each other in a rather nervous and embarrassed fashion, “And she's also really small! So that could be, y'know...affecting her tone...? Right? Oh c'mon Ox, you can confirm this. You've been doing research and all that geeky stuff. There's no way she sounds--”

“Just like you, much younger though. Ven, try to comfort her or something. See if she'll answer some questions. This can't be a coincidence,” the techy Fen-Chi would say as he pointed at Molly to begin recording the encounter with her holo-bracelet device. After a minute of silence to allow the girl to calm down just a bit, Ventus holstered his gun, even removing the holster and any other weaponry he had on him, handing it to Vosh who held it for a few seconds before stumbling from the weight and dropping them to the ground. The loud noises of the tech-based weaponry caused the Ngirrth'luin pup to whimper a bit, even making her shuffle back on her little bottom to hide underneath that table which she was so curious and scared of earlier, not caring if she broke anything else. Ventus growled softly at his twin, her only giving a shrug and an expression that said 'Whoops'. His head shook lightly, though a slight grin crossed his expression from her clumsy actions. He'd then sit himself on the ground and scoot reasonably close to the pale girl, a soft smile formed on his muzzle, “No need to be scared, little one. Me and Vosh were like you once. Small, tiny...maybe not as tiny as you, but we were pups once.”

“Yeah, except I hit a growth spurt before you did and was actually taller for a time. Like a whole week.”

“And I remember that week. You literally wouldn't stop pushing me until I hit mine, then you finally shut up.”

“Shut up, Ven...” a rather salty Vosh would grumble as she puffed her cheeks and looked away for a moment.

“Now, where was I? Right, so, you got a name, little one? Or are we gonna have to come up with some kind've nickname for you based on your fur color?” he'd ask as he scratched behind his head a bit, wondering if she would even respond to him after what he'd pulled. He was trying his hardest to not seem too intimidating, but obviously his size in comparison to her was enough to intimidate the girl. The reaction he got was one he expected, however, as she tucked her legs closer to her and tried looking away, “Hey, hey, no. Don't look away. Look, I don't have any of those scary tools anymore. Just me in the flesh. Why don't you take your hood off so we can see you better? You're not hurt, are you?”

Obviously her reactions weren't a clear enough sign to the bigger male who she recognized as one of her people. Even then, he was so big. She saw him offer a hand to her, as if wanting her to place her hand on his, but she wouldn't. She was far too terrified to even consider it. All of what had happened tonight transpired way too fast for her still developing mind to even comprehend. Even her basic language skills were limited to what she'd said before in an attempt to ward them away. If he kept pushing anymore, she'd have to resort to something her mother told her to never do.

A rather concerned Vosh peered over at her brother as he seemed to keep pushing himself onto the little girl in an attempt to try and make her feel comfortable. It obviously wasn't going to work. He was a six foot tall, athletic bodied Ngirrth'luin with canines that hung out over his lips, both jaws in both directions. What wasn't terrifying about him aside from his attitude? It honestly felt like their personalities were switched at this point and that she should've been the one trying to talk to the pale pup, which at this point she was tempted to do. Scratch that, she was going to do, “...Ventus, move out of the way. You're scaring the runt. You talk soft but your damn teeth ruin the mood.”

“Yeah, you're right. Fine, you try. You've got a slightly friendlier look to you, anyways. And maybe she'll react more openly with a female Ngirrth'luin.”

She'd roll her eyes as she gently shoved Ventus to the side with a booted foot, though it was obviously more him scooting away than her actually moving him forcefully. She crouched in front of the albino girl, trying to get a good look at her face which she was trying so hard to hide. Vosh's fuse was already beginning to burn short, though, “Alright, look, I know my brother's big and scary and has weird fuckin' teeth, but it would help us a lot if you told us what your name is and why you're here by yourself. You should be in the Brood Tower, not out in the world. Speaking of which, you don't look like you're an age...wait, wait, wait. How are you even alive? Mating season just started back in R'lyeh. You're old enough to be like...or at least I wanna say...7? 8?”

“...9.”

Vosh's fur-tipped ears perked a bit at the sound of her voice saying her age. They were right, unfortunately. The pup sounded exactly like she did when she was her age, except, well...almost a whole foot shorter than what she was at her age. She noticed the pale girl continued to look away and hide her face. Her fuse was burning close to none, and it was already short as is, “...oh c'mon, just show us what you look like, please? You're only gonna hear me say that once. You had your chance with the good cop,” she'd say as she started to grit her teeth, a paw twitching as she kept herself from grabbing at the little one's hood to forcefully remove it and see what exactly she was dealing with, “Now you're dealing with the bad cop. Now answer me, damn it!” Vosh's temper would snap in that moment, her paw reaching out to grab the pale little girl's hood, causing her to yank the hood off and her closer, muzzles almost touching as she stood her on her feet. She'd be growling as she looked the albino Ngirrth'luin pup up and down, trying to figure out what she was trying to hide, “...no...but how?” she'd gasp as she fell back onto her rump, in awe of what she was looking at. The pale pup was a near mirror-image of herself, facial structure, ears and all, but her colors were all different. White fur, pale gray patches and a maroon-ish red replaced her general fur patterns, “...w-what are you, kid? You look just like...me? But how? Do we have the same m--”

And before the pushover herself could even finish questioning, the pale child began to shriek. The pitch was deafening to those within a meter of her, while others outside of it would probably just suffer a headache for a good while. Unfortunately for Vosh, she was face to face with the girl, the scream, recognizable to both her and Ventus, causing her to black out from the pain her sensitive ears were suffering.

“Vos...! ...osh! Vo---! C'mo-...Vosh, wake u--!”

* * *

“Vosh, wake up! C'mon, get up. We're gonna be late!” a rather familiar yet foreign sounding voice would call out to her as she continued trying to force herself to sleep, “For the love of...Vosh! Get up! The Caretakers are going to punish us if we're late!” She'd simply roll over in her bed, pulling the covers over her head and beginning to cocoon herself in the warm embrace of her soft, yet moist blankets, “Yo- forget it. I'll see you at the meet, if you manage to sneak in. I've been trying to get you up for like...ten minutes already.”

The room was finally silent again. Her brother was gone and she could go back to sleep in her makeshift cocoon. In all honesty, she didn't care if her Caretaker came in and tried punishing her. So what if she wasn't even four and a half feet yet? She could still jump up and claw Qi'ara's eyes out if she really wanted to, and there was nothing she could do abou--

“Vosh Phantasm, I smell you hiding in those blankets!” a rather high pitched growl of an exclamation was made from down the hall. Okay, maybe she was a bit afraid of Qi'ara, but really, what was she going to do? Drag her out from her bed to the meeting...by her tail...why majority of her body was lifted up...with only her face dragging against the floor? No, she wouldn't do that...again. The thought of that happening last time sent a chill down her spine, causing her to wrap the blanket cocoon around herself even tighter. There was no way she'd be able to pull her out of this. And if she somehow did, then...well, game over, “Vosh Phantasm, you have one last chance to come out of there on your own. If you don't, you know exactly what's going to happen, and when it does, you should know I'm not going to be the one doing it. Instead I'll have one of the others do it, and you know how THEY handle things!” Oh no, not 'them'. She remembered the last time 'they' dealt with a misbehaving pup who was late to a meeting. Head shaven and placed in the center of the room for all of the others to pelt with random stuff, mostly harmless, but embarrassing nonetheless. Except she was the one to actually take something semi-dangerous to throw, and that was a small rock she'd picked up on the way over. If anyone had tried to pick on her or Ventus that day, then that rock was going to be her weapon, along with her teeth.

After a few moments of hesitation, the pup named Vosh would finally burst herself out of her little cocoon, a rather unamused expression on her face as she stared down the hall at the shadow of her Caretaker, “Fine, geez mom! I'm up! Just...give me a minute to get my clothes on.”

“Are you trying to tell me you sleep nude, Phantasm!? And what did I say about calling me that in public...”

“Okay, 'Qi'ara', and yes, I do! It's more comfortable that way!”

“No time for clothes. Grab your Alpha Garb Robe and just throw that on. Oh, and some underwear please!”

“I don't sleep THAT nude!”

“Good!”

“Great!” Their little argument ended soon after, with Vosh fumbling down the hallway towards Qi'ara who picked up the small girl and began to rush them both over to the main atrium of the Brood Tower. Luckily, there were a couple other latecomers, others who weren't as fortunate to have a Caretaker such as Qi'ara, one who could see past small mistakes and raise the pups like actual children, not a generation of future soldiers. Some speculated it was because the twins were Alpha-types that they got such 'special treatment', but in reality Qi'ara was a friend of their Mother-Father, so she was called. Unfortunately, pups of Alpha-type genealogy are not allowed to meet their 'Donor' parent, for reasons even Qi'ara was not told about, merely told that she was to keep the twins blind to ever learning the identity of her. Whether or not there were plans for little Vosh and Ventus were beyond her, only that she raised them as if they were her own kids like their Mother-Father had requested.

As for the meeting itself, it was nothing more than a headcount before supper. After this, the pups were told to return to their rooms and wait for their Caretakers to stop by and prepare their meals. However, the Director that stood near the center of the room motioned over to Vosh and Ventus, signaling Qi'ara to leave them to her for the time being. The Caretaker was hesitant, however. Usually the Director wanting pups for her own usually meant punishment. Unfortunately she had no say in this and reluctantly placed Vosh on the ground to go over towards the woman, not before the little Alpha clinging to her leg and whimpering softly, whispering, “Please don't let her hurt me, mom...” The woman was struck. This girl wasn't even her child, yet she felt more connected to her than she could ever feel to anyone else. But the Director's orders were to never be disobeyed, and she reassured little Vosh that she would be okay, slowly prying her off of her leg and taking her over to the Director who already stood tall with Ventus' shoulder clutched in her grip.

“Don't worry, Qi'ara. You'll have these two back by the Hour of Turning. I need to have a word with them, more specifically this little rebel to my right,” she'd say as she slowly ran her clawed digits through the soft, short hair on Vosh's hair, “Go ahead, Vosh. Tell her you'll be okay.”

“I'll...I'll b-be...”

“Tell her, Vosh. Now.”

“...mom, don't leave me here with her, please! Don't leave, mom, please!”

The paw that'd been running through the pup's hair would suddenly be pulled in a rather rough fashion, pulling her back to her side when she felt the little Alpha girl attempt to scurry for the woman she'd begun to see as her mother, “Ah, ah! Alpha-types do not exert emotions outside of dominant ones, Voshy. You wouldn't want your Donor to think lowly of you, would you?” She'd tug once more, causing Vosh to form tears in her eyes, though she would hold back from crying. This was the third time this Turn that she'd have to be taught a lesson. Ventus merely watched in silence, trying to look away from his sister. He felt her pain, and didn't want to show it. He'd taken the lessons to heart unlike her, and he definitely did not want to be punished again. The scratches and cuts along his arms from having to fight off multiple other males of his generation at one time was enough. He could even feel a few of his teeth growing in crooked from the head trauma he'd taken from the cheap shots that some of them took at him, all because they were allowed to feel tougher than an Alpha-type for once in their lives. Whatever the Director had in mind for Vosh today was something he didn't want to think about, because he'd surely feel it anyways.

Before long, the Caretaker of the twins had left the atrium, leaving the Director to signal the entry guards to close the room off for her to personally deal with the rambunctious little troublemaker that was Vosh, “This is the third time in a row that you've disobeyed curfew, deadlines or meeting times, my little Voshy. Would you mind explaining to me as to why? Are you afraid of me?” She'd ask with a sweet, yet obviously false tone. Her grip on the girl's hair never lightened, her claws beginning to lightly dig into her scalp, “Are you going to answer me, little miss?”

The small little pup that was Vosh would stop her scurrying in order to try and ease the pain of having her already short hair pulled even harder. At this point, it didn't matter if she answered or not. She was going to be punished, she knew it. How? She didn't know. It was different every time. The first time she was forced to sleep outside on the balcony of the Brood Tower in the constant storm that permanently enveloped R'lyeh. The second time she was forced to stay separated from her brother for a whole 7 Turns. And this time, she had no clu--

“You will learn to obey the rules one way or another, child!” the Director would exclaim in the already terrified pup's face before a sharp clawed paw moved to roughly make impact with the girl's face, one of the claws digging into and tearing away a small portion of her upper cheek's skin and fur. For a few seconds, all three of them would stand in silence at what had just happened. It wasn't like the Director to ever physically harm a child aside from the usual hair tugging or shoulder gripping, and to make matters worse she'd scarred the child. The black-green blood that ran through the child's body would begin to drip from the injury onto the ground. Vosh herself was in too much shock to even think about crying, let alone the pain she felt. The Director released both of the twins from her hold, stepping back a few feet, a small amount of Vosh's life fluid staining the digit that'd made the mark, “...Vosh? Oh my goodness...I-I don't know...what did I?” She'd stumble back a few more feet. She'd just committed a crime. And it wasn't teaching a lesson through physical contact. No, it was that she'd made a mark on an Alpha-type that wasn't of her generation, “Vosh...please, stay calm. I know what you're going to do if you don't level yourself out. I'm sorry, Voshy. Please, just stay calm and--”

It was far too late, however. Qi'ara had heard the sound of the Director making physical contact with the child she was in charge of taking care of and immediately set back to atrium. The guard would not deny her as he knew what was happening. A Caretaker was never to be stopped if their pup was believed to be in danger, no matter the case. Unfortunately she was too late. Vosh had already begun to shriek in that deafening, painful pitch known to the common as the 'Call of Ngirrth'lu'. It would not soften and it would not stop as Vosh continued to shriek, “Vosh...! Vosh stop, please...! Vo-...! V...sh!”

* * *

“V...! Vos-...h! Seriousl...-omeone splash some salt wat--...What? That's gonna wor...? A bag of chips opening? I mean...sure, I guess. But seriously? The sound of a bag of chips opening will wake her up?”

“Not just any chips. A rare bag of kettle cooked, spicy jalapeno potato chips!”

“That's...just stupid enough to work, actually. Sounds like a remedy that'd only work for her anyways. How'd you even figure that out, Molly?”

“Oh...I was watching a movie one night when she fell asleep on the sofa, also known as my bed, and I got hungry. So I grabbed some potato chips and opened them near her, and bam! She sprung up from her nap and literally shoved her muzzle into the bag. Needless to say, I went hungry for the rest of the movie.”

The voices she was beginning to recognize again. Nerd and Runt. But where was Ventus? And Molly was wrong about those chips. She wasn't hungry right n- “Aaaaum~!” And just like that, the mechanic with an attitude had done as Molly was talking about before, her muzzle deep in that delicious, rare bag of golden, crunchy delight! Oh how she needed this! And now she was letting Oxye and Molly see just how much of a pig she could actually be, the bag of chips empty in the matter of a minute, “...you saw nothing. Where's Ventus?”

“Ventus? He's in your room with Ashir. Asking her some questions and getting her acquainted with the place. I already told her about where not to go. She's actually surprisingly cooperative after taking a nap, unlike her older sister. You know, the one she looks almost exactly like, minus the ugly facial expressions and terrible attitude.”

At this point, Vosh was already scowling so hard that her brow had begun to crinkle up and her eyes to squint in a rather exaggerated manner. She'd shove the two Fen-Chis off of her and turn to place her...bare feet?!

“WHERE ARE MY BOOTS?!”

“Ashir was wondering if you had feet like her, so we all had to work together to get them off of your damn feet,” Oxye would say as he scratched as his scars underneath his beanie, “I'm honestly surprised at how you subconsciously put up a fight to keep anyone from taking them off. It was like a Cyber-Midway Game, except, well...dangerous, because your kicks hurt a lot more than your punches.”

“I can attest to that. And little Ashir here can confirm it. She couldn't help but laugh when you kicked me off of the couch when I'd just barely touched the laces of your fu-- freakin' boot. Luckily she understands that you have a bad temper now, and to never touch your boots,” a pretty bubbly, and oddly brotherly Ventus commented as he carried his albino sister on his shoulders.

“...WHERE ARE MY BOOTS?!”

“They're literally right ne-”

“WHERE ARE MY BOOTS?!”

“They're righ-”

“MY BOOTS!”

“NEXT TO YOU, VOSH! ON THE FLOOR!”

Her moment of panic over her footwear came to a halt when she finally looked down at the concrete floor and stared at her boots. Unfortunately this only triggered another exclaimed question of, “WHY ARE MY BOOTS NOT ON MY FEET?!”

“Vosh, please shut up and just put them on if you're really THAT concerned about your boots not being on your feet. Ashir needed to feel comfortable and her seeing your feet helped for some reason. I offered to get her a pair, but she shook her head and pulled them up in her robe and sat curled up on the bed. She's literally your exact opposite-copy, Vosh.” Ventus was honestly happy that things had turned out as they had. Aside from the rather eerie venture down to the surface level, it was rather enjoyable, especially since it came to him discovering their half sister, Ashir, “I'd tell her to tell you, Vosh--”

“MY BOOTS! MY BEAUTIFUL BOOTS!”

“...but her language is limited to our old tongue, still. She only knew a couple of Basic words, and those were used in the phrases she yelled when we first found her. We can definitely teach her more as we go, though. She's a smart girl. Tiny, but smart. Oh, and get this, she knows the name of our Mother. In fact, she was born by non-sacrificial means from her, which means that impregnated female Alpha-types don't become surrogates! Interesting stuff, huh? Oh, and apparently our Mother had been looking for us once we left the Brood Tower. She had Ashir out of depression from not seeing us. To kinda fill that void, y'know?”

“Heh. Heh. Hear that, Voshy?” a smirking Molly would say as she nudged the Ngirrth'luin in her side with a scrawny elbow, “You can have a kid and not worry about becoming a belly bursting sacrifice. Heh. Heh.”

“...depression!” a rather excited Ashir exclaimed as she managed to finally pronounce another Basic language word.

“Ah...yeah, good job Ashir, eheh...not exactly the word I would've hoped you'd pick up on, to be honest, but it's a start. Anyways, like I was saying, yeah, Ashir was born to help Mom, I guess. Which explains why she isn't part of a generation and is kind've, technically her own generation, though we have the same mom so she's part of ours, as odd as that sounds.”

Vosh would be much too focused on fixing her boots back onto her feet to even look up at the two, “What kind of name is 'Ashir', anyways? Sounds symbolic or something instead of like...aggressive like ours, with the whole 'V' theme.”

“My guess is it has to do with her fur patterns. Her spots and splotches are ash-gray. Not to mention she's albino.”

“...Ash!”

“There we go, Ashir! She's learning quick, don't you think? Anyways, like I was saying, it probably has to do with more than that.”

“Could possibly do with what's embroidered in her robes, too. I'm not a pro with your guys' language, but I did manage to decipher 'ashborn child' and 'evolution' from what I recognized. Maybe she's important, or maybe it's just some myth that your mother believed in,” Oxye would comment as he skimmed through the information he'd gathered and downloaded onto his holo-device, streaming and deciphering it at an impressive rate, “Either way, I don't think you guys should worry about it too much. It's been a long night and I still need to upload all of this stuff to my main rig.”

“You haven't already?”

“Too busy making sure Fuzzball wasn't dead.”

Vosh's vision seemed rather distant as she finished putting her boots back on, glancing up at her little sister who, now that she looked at her as a sister, did resemble her quite a bit, “Ashir the Ashborn, huh? Hm...”


End file.
